The functioning of the district-level police complaint authorities has been affected as the government is yet to provide basic facilities at the central offices of the two chairmen who head the authorities.
The authorities, set up on a directive of the Supreme Court, deal with complaints against police officers below the rank of Dy.SP under the Kerala Police Act.
Sources said the government was yet to take a decision on the request of the two chairmen for basic facilities. In fact, the central office of the southern districts located in Kottayam is headed by former district judge K.C. George while former district judge K.V. Gopikuttan chairs the central office of the northern districts based in Kozhikode.
As per the provisions of the Kerala Police Act, each district-level authority comprising the respective district police chief and the district collector and headed by the retired district judge will hold sittings at every district headquarters every two or three months, depending on the flow of complaints.
Human rights activist D.B. Binu said, even otherwise, the authority was encountering difficulties as the actions it suggested were only recommendatory in nature and the chairman could not pursue any follow-up action.
He said while the authorities set up by the other States had incorporated provisions for follow-up action, the State government had omitted any such provision, rendering the authority a mute spectator. He said the Act needed to be amended so that the authority could ensure that the directives issued by it on complaints of torture and other illegal police acts were implemented. As of now, the authority did not know about steps taken by the government on its recommendations.
He also pointed out that hundreds of complaints were pending before various authorities.
